The Delhi High Court on Thursday rejected a public interest litigation seeking the removal of Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal from his post as the Delhi chief minister on grounds that he is in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate, Live Law reported.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora said that the petition failed to cite any legal provisions that barred Kejriwal from holding his office.

The court observed that the matter falls outside the judicial domain and said that it was for other wings of the government to resolve it in accordance with the law, in case there is a failure of the state’s constitutional machinery.

The petitioner had claimed that Kejriwal continuing to be chief minister while in custody may influence the central agency’s “fair and proper investigation” of the case against him, but would also lead to a breakdown of the constitutional machinery in the state.

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in the liquor policy case and subsequently remanded to the agency’s custody till Thursday.

Since his arrest, Kejriwal has issued two directions to Delhi water minister Atishi and health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj: to address complaints of water and sewerage issues and to ensure the availability of medicines in state-run mohalla clinics.

On Tuesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party complained to Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena about the chief minister issuing directions from custody. The party claimed that this amounted to “unauthorised use of power and authority” by Kejriwal.

The party urged Saxena to issue “necessary orders/instructions” to establish an official mechanism to address the “ongoing serious crisis”.

The Aam Aadmi Party, however, has alleged that the BJP “does not want Kejriwal to serve the people of Delhi”.